Secret Santos
by JazMitch
Summary: Secret Santa...with a twist! Can Les help our infamous couple get their Christmas miracle? Their Someday?


Secret Santos

**Disclaimer: No amount of Christmas miracles can make this mine.**

**A/N: This is a fluffy little Christmas one-shot! Babe all the way, no mention of Morelli. **

**Dedicated to all my fanfiction followers, favourites and reviewers. If not for y'all, I never would have posted the second chapter of my first story, let alone come this far. **

**###**

Steph POV

Concert tickets.

This all started with concert tickets.

Who would have thought that Arianna Maraya would be, technically, the person to bring me my Someday?

###

"Arianna Maraya, are you shitting me right now?" Les demanded. "_The _Arianna Maraya, as in the sexy, curvy in all the right places, world renowned singer and professional belly dancer, that ARIANNA MARAYA?"

"Yes, yes, and…wait, how did you know she was a belly dancer?" I asked puzzled. I was telling Les about this contest I won for shopping at Victoria's Secret this past weekend. The prize was two tickets and back stage passes to meet- you guessed it- Arianna Maraya, a famous singer who I was sure had never belly danced in public before.

"Beautiful, I'm part of a security firm with some of the highest grade equipment in the world," Les arched an eyebrow at me. I giggled.

"Oh, so you're a part of her online fan-base then?" I surmised sassily.

"My little sister is, Beautiful, give me some credit," he smirked at me and I laughed harder.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, Les," I told him sympathetically, "but despite the fact that it's a New Year's concert, all the tickets are long-since sold out."

"Damn…Beautiful, you'll take me with you, though, right? As my Christmas present?" he sent me his infamous puppy dog eyes. Inside, I melted as soon as those emerald eyes turned my way, but I knew better than to let my best friend in on that.

"Maybe, Les," I laughed. "But that would mean you have to get me a present too."

"What would you want?" he asked curiously.

_Your cousin. _The misery-inducing thought came unbidden and sent a stab of pain to my heart. Ranger didn't do relationships, I knew, but it was a week before Christmas, and for some reason that old song, during this time, had been ringing in my head.

_All I want for Christmas is You._

Much as I loved my best friend- and Les was truly a huge part of my heart- I hated when he could read my thoughts on my face.

"He may be my cousin, but he's an ass, Beautiful," he murmured, taking my face between his large, course hands and pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"Yeah, well, what does that say about me, that I'm still hung-up on an empty hope?" I asked him bitterly. "God, I am such an idiot."

"No," Les cut in forcefully, gripping my jaw almost painfully and turning me to him. "Don't ever say that, Steph. _He's_ the idiot. I'm his cousin, I should know."

"Thanks, Les," I softened. "I just…don't know. I have to get over him, that's for sure, I'm just not sure how."

"Have to, Beautiful?" he asked, looking at me solemnly.

"Why, is there another option?" I tried to raise one of my eyebrows, but I missed that Rangeman seminar, so I ended up lifting both. Les smirked at my efforts.

"Well, honey, it's just that I've seen you two. Now you know I've never really believed in soul-mates, but watching you two is like watching something born from a Shakespeare play, minus the excessive death, trauma and angst," he rolled his eyes and I grinned at the Burg gesture. "Beautiful, you both know when the other walks into the room. You read him better than his army brothers and his own cousin can. You can look at his darkness and your only reaction would be to give him a hug and kiss and shower him with your light. He can hear about you blowing up one of his many Porsches and his only reaction would be frantically checking to make sure you didn't have a scratch on you. When you're in a room together, it's like you gravitate toward each other. Don't even get me started on the way you look at each other."

I was speechless as Les finished his little speech. Everything he had said was the truth, and yet…

"That's not the point though, Les," I argued wearily. "I may see that, but he doesn't, or he just doesn't want it. Soul-mate or not, the man's gotta wanna have _something _to begin with. And I think we've just established that Ranger _does not_ want said something, thus rendering your argument moot." I crossed my arms childishly and pouted. He grinned at me suddenly, his green eyes sparkling.

"What if we could change that?" he asked excitedly.

"Les, you _know _you're not allowed to drink on the job. Jesus, Ranger's gonna kill you."

"Not drunk, smartass," Les retorted, punctuating his statement with a poke to my side. "But I do have a plan for your Christmas gift."

###

"Just one date."

"No."

"Come on, Beautiful, just one!"

"Nuh-uh."

"Why not?"

"Nope."

"Stephanie!"

"Lester!"

"How about tonight?"

"How about, not?" I giggled as Les let out an exasperated sigh. His lips quirked upwards at my giggle so I knew he wasn't as frustrated with me as he was making out to be. "It's not going to work, Les," I whispered. "Ranger doesn't get jealous."

"The hell he doesn't," Les scoffed quietly. "And it will work, if you actually go along with it! If I took you out once, he'd get so jealous he'd have to pull his head out of his ass and make you his!"

"I'm not going to manipulate him, Lester!" I protested.

"One date, Beautiful," Les went back to his normal voice and I rolled my eyes. "I can make you forget all about him." He waggled his eyebrows and I had to grin; I couldn't stay mad at him.

"Give it up, man," Cal called as he walked past, grinning. "Angel's only got eyes for the Bossman."

"Can it, Flaming Skull," Les flipped him the bird and I laughed again. Looking at my watch I saw that it was going on 6:45pm. I had stretched my shift so that I could empty my inbox, although I had no doubt that Rodriguez would have it filled again by tomorrow morning. Damn that man. I got up and shrugged my Rangeman jacket on, preparing to leave. Just as I left my cubicle, though, Les hopped up on to the table. I froze in my tracks and did my best impression of a fish out of water.

"Lester, what in the hell are you doing?" I hissed.

"Beautiful, you are one of the single, most amazing women I have ever met," Les announced loudly, capturing the attention of all the men on the fifth floor. My blood stopped in my veins when I heard a door open and felt a tingle on my neck. Oh, crap.

"You are funny, and warm, and loving, and non-judgemental," he carried on, in all likelihood exactly aware that Ranger was standing there. I flushed crimson. "Please, Steph. Would you do me the utmost honour of letting me take you on one date- just _one date _– and thereafter, you can decide. Just one night, Beautiful. Whaddaya say?"

He looked at me pleadingly and sent me a barely perceptible wink. All at once, I gave up. If the plan worked, fine, if not, at least I got to spend a night with a guy who loves me, albeit as a best friend, right?

"One date, Les," I muttered. There was an almost collective intake of breath as I scurried away to the relative safety of the elevator.

"I'll pick you up at six thirty tomorrow, Beautiful," he called gleefully after me. I nodded and, keeping my head down, entered my sanctuary. Just before the doors closed, I heard a terrifyingly booming voice bark out, "Santos! My office, NOW!"

Aah, shit.

###

Ranger POV

I rolled my neck as I got up from behind my desk. It had been a hellish day, and I knew a lot of us were pulling later shifts. I checked the cameras quickly, and seeing that Babe was just about to leave, I got up and planned to ask her to have dinner with me, up on seven. We had meals together most of the time, be it lunch or dinner. I tried not to analyse this too much, just as I tried not to analyse how empty my apartment feels when she's not in it. Or how much harder it is to sleep when she's not curled into me. Or how instinctive it is of me to make her the first person I see when I'm back from the Wind. Or how just her smile can make the crappiest of days okay. Or how I feel that potent spike of jealous possessiveness when a skip dared to touch her, be it on the streets or during a distraction. Or how she made me want things that I never thought I would ever want. Or anything to do with her, really.

Well, that aside then.

I was already halfway to my door when I heard my loudmouth cousin.

"Beautiful, you are one of the single, most amazing women I have ever met," he announced. My blood froze.

Aw, hell no.

I yanked open my office door to find him on a desk, kneeling towards MY BABE, hand over his heart talking to her while she stared at the ground, her face heating up with a sexy blush.

"You are funny, and warm, and loving, and non-judgemental. Please, Steph. Would you do me the utmost honour of letting me take you on one date- just _one date _– and thereafter, you can decide. Just one night, Beautiful. Whaddaya say?"

Man, I really wish I didn't have to have to kill my own cousin. Tia Lola was going to be so upset with me.

"One date, Les," Babe muttered.

Wait, WHAT?!

I stood there dumbfounded as Babe scurried away. She had agreed? I snapped out of it as she escaped into the elevator.

"SANTOS! My office, NOW!" I boomed, making three quarters of the men flinch.

I stalked in and began to pace like a caged tiger. I had always thought of Lester and Babe as a pair who saw themselves as brother and sister. How had I misjudged so badly? My cousin entered and as he shut the door, I gripped him by his collar and slammed him into the nearest wall, unable to control my rage.

"You asked her out _on a date_," I snarled, bringing my face close to his.

"Good job, soldier, very keen eye for detail," Santos spat. Before the rage had a proper chance to settle, I noticed that he didn't seem as chagrined or scared as he did angry and satisfied.

"You know she's off-limits," I growled, pressing my fist further into his throat. "You know how I feel about her."

"Which is…how, exactly, Carlos?" he snapped.

"You know I…"

"You, what, Carlos?" he demanded. I could see he was speaking no longer as my employee, but as my brother in arms, and my blood brother. "Mi a decir, hermano! Dios, lo juro tu erez estupido a veces…" he trailed off in Spanish and my blood boiled. (Tell me, Brother! God, I swear, you're so stupid sometimes)

"Tener cuidado con el palabra, hermanito," I hissed. (Be careful of your words little brother) "Do not forget who it is you're talking to."

"What am I doing wrong, by asking a beautiful woman on a date to show her that she's so much worthier than other men in her life have made her feel?" he asked in a low voice, aiming an accusatory glare at me.

"Explain." I commanded, letting him go, lest I kill him before I understand that statement.

"Every man in her life has made her feel like she's nothing more than a quick screw to them," he answered. "Now, maybe you've been there for her when she was in trouble, loaned her cars, your men, your apartment, but face it, cuz; when it came down to it, you weren't there the next morning. All that came of it was a bunch of qualifiers and a "My life doesn't lend itself to relationship" speech. You were out of her apartment before your side of the bed got cold, and forgive me if that's not considered making her feel worthless."

My cousin, the joker, stared at me now with complete seriousness.

"You know I didn't mean to hurt her like that," I snarled, my anger getting the best of me because I knew he was right.

"It's funny, Carlos, but the whole time you've been talking to me, you've been saying that _I _know she's off-limits, that _I _know how you feel about her, that _I _know you never meant to hurt her. That's all fair and well, but Carlos, _I'm_ not the one who needs to know it, man." He walked out, stopping at my door. "I once told you that if you ever messed things with her up, that I'd move in. Are you going to tell her, or do I get to show her how much she's worth?"

He left, and I slammed my fist into the wall. Part of me knew he had a point, while the other part of me wanted to kill him for making a move on my woman.

_**My woman. **_

Seems I'm going to have to start analysing all these emotions I have for my Babe.

###

Steph POV

It was two days before Christmas, and also the night of my date with Les. I tried not to over-think it, but he was my best friend and I couldn't help wonder if it was going to get weird. Ranger had been called in for a meeting in Newark, and after a heated argument with Tank, he figured out he couldn't possibly cancel, so he was out for the majority of the day.

I had come home with enough time to take a shower and get dressed for tonight. I was wearing a green halter dress that was fitted to every curve until my waist, where it began to flair so that it sashayed around me when I moved. It hit a few inches above my knees and I had paired it with four inch black FMPs and long, dangly earrings, sans necklace. The material was shimmery and was almost the exact shade of Lester's eyes. Needless to say, I adored it.

I was ready a little early, so I looked through the Christmas gifts I had gotten the guys. We had all agreed not to do the gift-giving, but I had other plans. I bought the guys I was closest to little gifts that I thought they would appreciate and I was going to deliver the gifts to them tomorrow night. That way, they could open it Christmas morning, but there would not be enough time to get me a gift to reciprocate; I didn't want them to, as I wanted this to be about _me _giving something back to _them _for all that they always do for me.

I almost jumped when there came a knock on my door. I had to giggle; I was so un-used to people actually knocking before coming into my apartment that it was a worry when someone actually did knock.

"I'll be right there," I called, putting the gifts away, grabbing my clutch and checking my hair once more, which I had teased to fall in soft curls and pinned up so that it fell across my shoulder. I opened the door to find one very yummy looking Lester Santos.

He was wearing a black suit with a black shirt, sans tie, with the first two buttons popped open. He was holding a bouquet of white lilies- my favourite- and his green eyes, normally sparkling with mischief were, tonight, softened with what looked like awe.

"Beautiful, you look…" he trailed off, handing me the flowers. "Beautiful," he finished with a laugh.

"Thanks, Les," I giggled, blushing slightly. "For the flowers too."

"Anything for you," he bowed gallantly and I giggled again. "Care to join me, M'Lady? Our carriage awaits."

"Sure Les," I said between my laughter. "I would care to join you, indeed." Tucking my hand into the crook of his arm, he led me to the elevator.

"Really, Steph," he turned to look at me when the doors closed. "You look so amazing, Honey."

"Thank you," I flushed again and looked at the floor. My insides warmed; it had been a long while since I'd been out on an honest-to God date. I laughed out loud when I saw, waiting for us outside the building, a horse and carriage. Les grinned at me and helped me up on to it. We rode to a small diner just outside the Burg that served meals and had a dance floor.

I had lasagne and Les had steak, and we spent the whole meal talking. I found out that Les was a closet artist and as it so happens, he never knew I loved to dance.

"Get outa here, really?" he asked with a laugh.

"Yeah," I grinned. "I was actually not half bad at it, but of course since it wasn't ballet or tap, my mom made me quit," I shrugged.

"Well, what was it that you learnt?" he asked curiously.

"Classical, hip-hop and some stuff in between," I answered vaguely.

"Think you'd still remember?" he asked, holding out a hand and getting up. I was hesitant; a fast-paced Latin number was blaring through the speakers and I wasn't sure I still remembered how to salsa. Before I could decide, Les yanked my hand and pulled me against him. He started moving and I lost myself in the music, swaying my hips and moving my legs according to his motions. It was like riding a bike; I felt like I never stopped dancing to begin with and moving my body in sync with the beat made me feel a sense of calm, almost. I closed my eyes and began to feel the movement, letting loose and twisting and curving in ways I had forgotten were possible. When the music ended, I opened my eyes, breathless. The first thing that hit me was a deep sense of loss; I didn't want the dancing to end. The second thing was the look on my best friend's face.

"Jesus Christ, Beautiful," he muttered almost reverently. "I have never seen anyone move like that."

"Yeah, well," I shrugged, my face burning. "I missed it. You were amazing yourself. Thanks so much for this, Les."

"Anytime, Beautiful," he smiled and winked at me. "How about another dance?"

###

Ranger POV

I watched them from my Turbo, my blood boiling. Of course, a minute ago, it had been boiling because seeing Babe move like that, her limbs practically liquid as she moved with languid grace, had been even more of a turn on than seeing her go badass on someone. This lust quickly turned to bloodlust as I had to acknowledge that mine were not the arms she was in, that mine was not the waist she was spun into, that mine were not the eyes she met when she was dipped back at the waist. I swore my cousin under my breath; was he trying to show me what would happen if I didn't confront what I felt for my Babe, or was he really trying to woo her?

I watched with growing annoyance as they laughed and spoke. Santos even went as far as feeding her some of his cheesecake, after accepting a bite of chocolate mousse cake from her fork. By the end of their evening, I was ready to rip my cousin to shreds. It wouldn't be hard to avoid all family gatherings from now on and I'm sure _mi'ama _and _tia _would forgive me eventually, if I pretend to be very sorry.

They left the restaurant- thankfully in his car instead of that far too romantic carriage- and drove, and I followed at a safe distance. My cousin may be good, but I was better, so he didn't have a hope of spotting me. I had planted a bug on his open top to catch snippets of conversation. They were sitting in a comfortable silence until Santos pulled up into her parking lot, parking far from the door, in the middle of the lot. Quietly, he got out and opened her door for her, offering her his hand. She took it and slid out gracefully, the flash of her endless legs and the silky flow of material around her sending potent flashes of desire through my body. I shifted in my seat, trying to alleviate some of the discomfort in my cargoes. He wrapped his arms carefully around her waist and lifted her on to the bonnet of the car, where he quickly joined her. They leaned back, Steph resting her head against my cousin's soon-to-be-removed shoulder, and watched the night sky.

"I love looking at the stars," Babe murmured. "I used to sneak out of the house at night, and sometimes I would just go to the park near my house and watch the stars, just like this."

_Oh, Babe. _I couldn't help the sickening feeling in my gut; she was supposed to be sharing those stories with _me _not my dumbass cousin.

"I used to like to do this before as well," Santos replied, equally quiet. "Sometimes I would go alone, sometimes Carlos would come with me."

"Ranger used to do this?" Her voice was astonished.

_Yeah, Babe, _I longed to answer her. _I used to do it back when I had some faith in the world, and I would do it again, but only with you. You restore my belief in the world, Babe. My belief in the goodness of people._

"When we were kids," Santos answered instead and I scowled as the blade in my heart further twisted. "He stopped for a long time now. We both did. I guess it had to do with the fact that we saw so much horror in the world that we forgot the parts of it that held any sort of beauty."

"Sometimes I wish I could help," Steph admitted softly. "Take away the horrors you guys have had to face. Take away the pain. Especially with Ranger," my ears perked up at the sound of my name on her beautiful lips, "because I so hate to see him in any kind of pain. But I realise that those were the things that shaped y'all into the honourable, strong, fearless, noble men that y'all are."

"That means a lot, Beautiful," Lester's voice was full of tenderness but that did nothing to convince me that I shouldn't rip his heart out through his larynx. "We aren't fearless, though."

"Yeah, y'all are," she argued. "You consider a day fun, once you get to shoot someone. Tank throws people out of windows if they dare to cross him. Bobby is the only badass I've seen who can heal a person just to threaten them with death. One glare from Cal or Hector is enough to make skips handcuff themselves after offering to take them out for coffee. And don't even get me started on Ranger. He's _Batman_," I detected pride in her voice and it made my chest swell three sizes along with my heart. "He saves small countries during his lunch break with time enough to spare to take a mad scientist or a terrorist or two."

I chuckled and my heart warmed; I loved that she could see me like that, loved that she thought of me as a superhero.

"True," Santos laughed. "We're badass, but all the men you just mentioned, my cousin included, are afraid of one thing."

"What?" she asked.

I answered her question in my own murmur that she had no hope of hearing, in unison with Lester's answer to her.

"Losing you."

"Les…" she whispered, sounding tortured. "That doesn't mean…he doesn't…"

"He does, Beautiful," he cut in solemnly. "He was furious when you left, and he would've killed me if we weren't related. Hell, he probably will kill me when he finds out that I did this to make him jealous enough to make his move."

I growled; he was right. I _was _going to kill him.

"So he does, Beautiful," he concluded. "The question is, do you?"

I froze in my tracks, putting my plan to crash their date and kill my cousin to a grinding halt. I needed to know her answer.

"Of course I do," she answered without a second of hesitation. "I love him more than anything. Hell, I'm so in love with him, I can feel that tingle on my neck right now. I've felt it our entire date and he's not even here! I'm sensing him when he's not there." She groaned. I was torn between amusement and pride. She could sense me the whole night I spent following them when my dumbass cousin could not. "I'm afraid that I always will," she continued, "and I can't move on while Ranger is here, near me, because I'll always be in love with him and seeing him will only strengthen that love."

My heart stopped at her confession, then picked up double time. She loved me. She was _in love_ with me. Suddenly, all the thinking and the realisation of my love for her didn't seem all that complex. I loved her, and she loved me.

And damn if my pain-in-the-ass cousin wasn't right all along.

I got out of my car and walked toward them. Santos sat up, pulling her with him. She rubbed the back of her neck and looked around instinctively. When she saw me, she slid off the bonnet, Santos following suit.

"Ranger." Though she tried to control her voice, it came out slightly breathy and shaky. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk, Babe," I told her, aiming a glare at Lester.

"Hold on," she narrowed her eyes at me, "were you following us the entire evening?"

"Yeah, Babe," I answered shamelessly. "We need to talk about that little confession of yours."

"Ricardo Carlos Manoso," she trailed off tightly, her jaw clenching, fury in her features, and in that second, I realised it probably would've been best if I had eased into the eavesdropped conversation with more tact.

"I had hoped that confession would be enough for you to drag your ass here," Lester smirked arrogantly at me. So he_ had_ known about the bug, asshat.

Unfortunately for him, he hadn't known, or didn't anticipate, how Steph would react to her privacy being violated. I watched as realisation dawned on her face. Her fists clenched and her eyes turned a dark, fiery blue.

"Lester Santos, did you know about the bug?" she asked him softly, dangerously. Too late, my cousin realised what he had said.

"Beautiful…" he tried to start.

"Don't!" Steph snapped, rage burning through her, tears beginning to fill her eyes. "I trusted you! I trusted you, and then you go and pull a stunt like this? Have me admit my pathetic, pitiful feelings so Batman can swoop in and save me from my own loser existence? Have me spill my heart to you KNOWING he can hear every word I say? How could you, Lester?" her voice broke now and I wanted to reach for her so badly, tell her she was nowhere near right, that she meant everything to me and that she was the furthest thing from pitiful or pathetic. I started to, but not before she whirled around, jerking out of both of our reaches and pinning me with a fierce glare.

"And you!" she snarled, before Lester could speak to apologise or defend himself. "How dare you plant a listening device on me? What I do and who I do it with when the sun goes down_, stopped_ being _any_ of your business when _you_ walked away from me. When _you_ sent me back to Morelli. When _you_ spun me all that crap about thinking you know what I want and need better than I do. Hell, Ranger every time _you _pull away from _me_, you lose that right. You didn't want **us** Ranger. You didn't want me. The least- _the least_- you could do is let me have someone who does."

She turned on her heel as the first few tears fell and strode angrily away. On instinct, Santos and I both followed, to check her apartment before she got in. When she heard us, she whirled around one more time.

"And don't either of you, _dare _follow me! I would sooner deal with a homicidal maniac than either of you two at the moment."

When she walked away this time, I still made to follow her, but a hand halted me.

"Don't," Santos repeated, looking frustrated and grim. "Give her time."

I smacked his hand away from me, glaring at him lividly.

"Hey," he held his hands up defensively, palms facing me. "This one's on you too, cuz. You're the one who bugged our date."

"Don't you ever," I snarled, my warning clear in my fierce, black as Death eyes, "_ever, _take _my_ woman out on a date again." I was annoyed, and part of me knew I had no right to be, but nevertheless, I stalked to my Turbo and peeled out of the lot. I grabbed my cell and held down on speed-dial two.

"I'm safe," Babe bit out, before hanging up. I blew out a frustrated breath through my teeth.

Was it too late for one of those Christmas miracles Abuela always spoke about?

###

Steph POV

When I woke up, I felt like I had been 12 rounds with the devil. My eyes were burning, my cheeks, scrubbed raw, and my head, pounding. Saying that I felt like crap would've been like saying getting shot in the heart was vaguely uncomfortable. Ironically enough, shot in the heart? Close to what I was feeling right then.

I trudged to the bathroom and only emerged 45 minutes later, once I resembled a human, and didn't look like I'd spent the night sobbing, even though I had. Much as I wanted to, I couldn't say that the new day had brought some optimism or a silver lining to the dark cloud shrouding me since last night, but it had brought me some measure of acceptance. I could no more change Ranger's and Lester's actions than a nun could do the deed with the pope. It was time to move forward.

Okay, scratch that. The day after Christmas would be the day to move forward.

With that decision made, I switched all my phones off and spent the rest of the day watching Ghostbusters, eating TastyKakes and wrapping the Merry Men's gifts. As I had originally planned, I left my apartment at 8 o'clock, to drop off the gifts.

I had peeked at the employee records beforehand to check where I needed to be delivering to, so I was set. First stop was Ram, a closeted train enthusiast, who I had gotten a model train made entirely of bullets.

Next was Cal, who I had gotten a wrist- and head-band set with a t-shirt that had a picture of a flaming skull on it, to match his tattoo.

Then I stopped at Manny's and had a beer with him before giving him his gift; as an inside joke, I had gotten him a shot glass that said "I can drink as much as I'd like- with my wifey's permission!" on it.

Next on my list was Tank, and consequently, Lula. I got Tank a pair of dusters that had letters across the knuckles, spelling B-I-G G-U-Y, and I got Lula a pair of neon green spandex shorts that had JUICY! typed across the ass.

Connie came next; I had gotten her a new nail filing and manicure set, then I dropped off Vince's tickets to the next game, Woody's cowboy hat and Bobby's monogramed leather medical bag.

After dropping off Hector's gift of a new set of knives with his name carved into the handles, it was time to drop off Lester's gift. I kept to my promise, despite his jackass move, and included his favourite cologne with the concert tickets. I couldn't face him just yet, though, so I arranged with Bobby to give it to him as soon as his shift was over. While I was at Rangeman, I dropped off Ranger's gift on seven, leaving it on the island where he could easily see it. I was back at home around 10-ish, and although I was supposed to meet my family and spend the last hours before Christmas with them, I found myself just wanting to crash for the night and be away from people. I could see them in the afternoon; frankly, I just wasn't feeling the Christmas spirit anymore.

###

Ranger POV

Only the knowledge that she'd probably shoot me if I did, kept me from following Babe today until she agreed to talk to me. It tore me up inside, knowing that she was upset with me, and it made it even worse because I knew for a fact that I had ruined Christmas for her, one of her favourite holidays in the year. I walked into my apartment, weary after my hellish day without her, and saw a wrapped gift on my island.

Although I knew it was a Christmas gift, I couldn't help but unwrap it. There was only another half hour until midnight, so I was close enough anyway.

Inside, was a six part collage frame; in one frame was a picture taken when I was a kid, with the whole family. I grinned at the sight of myself at 7 years old, holding a 5 year old Lester in a head-lock. Next to that was a picture of me, Tank, Lester and Bobby, when we first started in the army. Then came the picture of myself and Julie when she was a baby. I took a minute to appreciate that the pictures seemed to follow a chronological order; telling the story of my life, in a way. In the fourth frame, was the Rangeman photo, taken out three years ago, with the entire team, at a party Steph had organised in honour of Rangeman's fifth year running. My heart softened as I saw, in the middle of the throng of people, Babe wrapped in my arms as we smiled at each other in place of the camera. The fifth frame held a picture of Julie and I that was taken last year; it was the most recent I had of her and I was glad we had taken it. The final frame, instead of a photo, had a page with a bat monogram. I grinned as I realised that Steph had to have been the one who made this for me; she was the only one who called me Batman now. underneath the emblem, were the words:

_To my dark knight in shining cargoes!  
Merry Christmas, Batman.  
All my love, always,  
Babe_

Now, in all the years since I had become Ranger from Carlos, not once has my heart ever been as warmed as at that very moment. In a sudden moment of clarity, I knew what I had to do. Taking the last page, with the Batman symbol, out, I put it against my penholder on my desk in my study and put in its place, a picture I normally kept there.

It was a picture that had been taken by a security cam, by one of the buildings near Steph's, outside her apartment. Lester had printed it and given it to me a while ago.

It was before a distraction job and the picture showed Stephanie in a blue sleeveless dress exactly the same shade of blue as her eyes that hit a good few inches above her knee and was completely backless, with blue FMPs and me, in my street gear. I was leaning against the hood of my Turbo, one leg bent and propped against the hood. She stood between my legs and I had my hands on her waist, anchoring her in that position. She was leaning into me, her hands braced on my shoulders and we were both smiling slightly at each other, eyes beginning to close. A blind man could have seen that we were deeply in love.

As I slid it in, I realised that only now, was the frame complete. Without her in it, just like my life, it had been practically empty despite all the other people. With that realisation came my own epiphany; I needed to go after her. I grabbed the Christmas gift I had gotten her previously from the safe, as well as the gift I had bought her long years ago, and tore out of my apartment.

When I got to her place, I made quick work of her locks. Taking my gun from my waistband, I aimed it in as I entered…

…only to be met with the barrels of 8 guns pointed at me.

Camped out in various places in Babe's living room, were 8 of my men, all now wielding a gun at me, looking ready to defend the woman inside. It was easy to see that they had all planned on sleeping there; now I just wanted to know why. They relaxed when they saw it was me. I was partly annoyed that any of these men were here at all, and partly relieved that she had more or less 8 body guards.

"Explain," I barked softly at Lester, who was standing the closest to me.

"Beautiful got us Christmas gifts," he enlightened me, "and we didn't want her to know we got presents for her too. We decided to get her gifts right after we decided not to do the gift-giving scene." He shrugged and grinned at me. "Beautiful's just captured too many Rangeman hearts not to do Christmas, Boss. Anyway, we decided to camp out here so we could spend Christmas morning with her. we brought our gifts, unopened, so we could all open them together. I would've gone in, just so she doesn't get scared when she wakes up to a houseful of Rangemen, but I didn't think she'd want to talk to me since she's been avoiding me the entire day," this part came out melancholy, and though I was mad at my idiot of a _primo_, I felt for his sadness, because I could relate; we had both been deprived of the light in our lives because of our own idiocy. (cousin)

"I'm going to go talk to her," I told him. "She'll be softened by sleep, and besides, this can't wait."

"_The issue_ can't wait, or _you _can't wait, _hermano_?" he asked with a smile. (brother)

"iCallate la boca, hermanito!" I growled, keeping a hint of a smile on my face to show that I wasn't mad at him again.(Shut the hell up, Little Brother)

I let myself quietly into her room, and always surprising me, Babe began to stir as I approached her.

"Ranger?" her sleepy voice was like music to my ears. It had never occurred to me just how much I loved hearing her voice. Having not been in the wind for a while, it had been a while since I had gone a day without hearing her melodious voice and now it hit me just how much I missed listening to her.

"Babe," I murmured. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes.

"Much better than waking up to find Santa," she told me with a sleepy grin. I smiled at her, all 2000 watts. Tilting her head to look at me, she bit her lip, and I knew she was wondering whether she was ready to forgive me yet.

"Babe, I'm so sorry," I told her, surprising her. "I never meant to hurt you, and I never meant to lose your trust. I just went out of my mind at the prospect of losing you, and my cousin taking you on a date…made me go crazy. I had no right to do what I did, but I was just so madly jealous…that's no excuse, Babe, but I just need you to understand why I did what I did."

"Jealous?" she asked me puzzled. "I thought you didn't do jealous? More to the point, Ranger, I thought you didn't do relationships?"

"I don't Babe," I struggled, realising that I was losing the point I was trying to make.

"So you don't want me, but no-one else can have me?" she asked, eyes narrowing.

"No, Babe! I mean, yes!" I blew out a frustrated breath. "No-one else, Babe. You're mine."

"I'm _yours_?" she repeated dangerously. I decided to intervene before she hit rhino mode.

"Yes, Babe. You're mine. No-one else's. Because I love you, Babe. I don't do relationships, but I'll change that for you. I don't do jealous, but I'll go insane if I see another man's hands on you. I can't go a day without talking to you, I know because today was the crappiest day of my life knowing that you were mad with me. A day spent without you feels to me like a millennium in hell. I love you so much, Babe. I'm just so very sorry it took me and my idiot cousin hurting you for me to realise this and tell you this. You're everything to me and I want to spend my whole life making you smile and feeling you against me every morning, night, and as many times in between. I love you so, so much, Te quiero, mi Corazon." (I love you, my heart)

Through my entire declaration, she was silent and she looked at me now with tears in her eyes. I was at her side in a moment.

"Querida, don't cry," I pleaded, gently wiping away the tears with coarse hands. "I hate to see you cry, amor."

She took both my hands in hers and looked up at me. I could see the indecision there and I knew she was trying to figure out whether I meant what I said and whether she should give us a gamble. I leaned down and captured her lips with my own in a tender, sweet, loving kiss that was slow and not lacking the passion of our usual kisses. When I pulled away, she looked steadily at me then shifted away from me on the bed.

My heart broke, and I was about to leave, to respect her decision that I was too late, when she tugged on my hand.

I looked down at her and she used her free hand to lift the sheets from the bed, opening up a spot on the bed for me in silent invitation. She smiled tentatively at me, and at this point, words were not needed. My answering smile was brilliant and I quickly shed my clothes and pulled on the black boxers of mine that she kept in her bottom drawer. I filled the proffered space and pulled her into my arms, her back to my chest. I sighed in content, the weariness of the day coming back to me in full force. Everything felt better, though, when she snuggled down into me and pressed a small kiss to my bicep. Love and possessiveness swept over me.

_**Mine. **_

The men could wait till morning.

###

Steph POV

It's funny how waking up one morning can be completely different as to how you woke up the previous morning.

Where I had felt like Hell frozen over the morning prior to this, I now felt like my bed was a piece of my personal heaven wrapped in a little cocoon around me. Ranger was curled protectively around me, and I was pressed against his warm chest. We were so close a paper wouldn't fit between us, and quite frankly, I didn't know where I ended and where he began.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

I laid my head on his arm again and traced light circles across his forearm as I thought. For a moment, I thought I had been dreaming. When I fought with him, I knew it wasn't. Then, he told me he loved me. No qualifiers. I could scarcely believe what I was hearing and only after discreetly pinching myself did I realise that he really was in front of me, telling me he wanted me.

It was nothing short of my very own, Christmas miracle.

"Not your miracle, Babe," his deep, rich, baritone voice brought me out of my deep thoughts. "Mine."

"Out loud?" I peeked up at him sheepishly.

"Yeah, Babe," he chuckled lightly, leaning down to capture my lips with his. He flipped us so that he was above me, the length of his body pressing against mine. "_**Mine**_," he growled possessively. What started off gentle quickly turned desperate and hungry as he slipped his hand under the Rangeman shirt I wore to bed- his shirt- and began to caress and tease and…_oh_…

"Stop," he groaned, grabbing my wrists and pinning them above my head when my fingers danced across the waistband of his boxers. I was breathing heavily, and I knew my eyes had turned cobalt with desire. I glanced at him questioningly. His eyes, too, were black as night.

"Why?" I asked breathlessly, trying to break out of his hold, squirming underneath him.

"Dios, Babe, stop moving or I won't be held responsible for my actions," he growled again, nipping my bottom lip with his teeth. He gave it a little lick, then licked the hollow at the base of my throat, before looking up to meet my eyes once more. "You have visitors," he explained.

"WHAT?!" I shrieked. I know I had moaned and made very suggestive noises in the past 10 minutes and I burned red with embarrassment. He grinned at me and I wriggled out from under him and ran to the chair in the corner of my room. Grabbing the robe I had left there, I belted it tightly around my waist and peeked into the living room.

In various places in my living room, lounged Merry Men in various states of undress. It was obvious to see they had slept there and I noted in my mind, that all the people here were people I had given gifts to, save for Tank. They all grinned at me, except for Lester, who simply held my gaze with a pleading one of his own.

"Merry Christmas, Bomber!" they called out in unison. I began to laugh when I saw the mountains of gifts at the foot of my little tree. Despite the fact that I was only in my robe, I was passed from arm to arm, hugged fiercely and kissed on the cheek. I could hear Ranger growl many times, only seeming to be unaffected when Hector held me. I grinned to myself.

When I reached Lester, I hesitated. After last night, seeing how Ranger felt, I knew in my heart that Lester had done what he did only because he knew how his cousin felt about me and was trying to get him to admit it himself. I knew, deep down, that Les would never intentionally hurt me, and I knew that he was trying to help. I looked into his endless emerald green eyes and when I saw sadness there, I reacted instinctively.

Throwing my arms around him, I launched myself into his arms. His arms came around me and held me tightly to his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Beautiful," he murmured ardently into my ear. "I never meant to hurt you."

"I know, Les," I whispered back, feeling awful for being mad with him. "I'm so sorry for reacting like that. I know you were trying to help me. I'm sorry, Les, I'm so, so sorry."

"Hush, Beautiful, it's okay," he whispered, pressing a kiss against my hair. When I let go, I was crying slightly, so he wiped my face gently and smiled at me. "Merry Christmas," he told me, kissing my forehead.

"Merry Christmas, Les," I returned, smiling at him.

"Hey, stop monopolizing the Bombshell," Ram called out. Les laughed good-naturedly.

"It's not monopolizing if I'm the only one here she wants to be with," he retorted. I smacked his chest lightly and moved to stand with Ranger, who cuddled me into his chest.

"_Mine_," he grumbled again, and I laughed.

"Yours," I agreed, kissing his shoulder.

We spent the morning unwrapping gifts and eating donuts and Mc Muffins, and drinking soda. Turns out I wasn't the only one who didn't stick to the no-gift policy. From all the stuff the men got me, from a new phone cover (Ram), to a gold 'S' necklace with vines of diamonds around the pendant (Ranger), to a set of throwing knives with my initials emblazoned on the holster (Hector),the gift that touched my heart most was from Lester.

He burnt a CD for me. The cover of the CD was a picture, I now knew, that he had drawn himself, of me smiling and giving my trademark finger wave, against a background of the night sky, complete with stars. It was amazing and I was in awe of the talent my best friend had. Written in bold on the top, was the word "BEAUTIFUL" and the disk had songs that each of the men dedicated for me. For example, the first track was named "Les" and it was a song he dedicated to me, by Sammy Kershaw, called "She don't know she's beautiful". The second track was named Cal, and it was an old Shaggy song, called "Angel." Each track made me laugh and cry, but it was the last song that had me sobbing.

Called simply, Carlos, it was a song we had decided, long ago, that applied to Ranger and I.

When "Babe" by Styx came over my stereo, and I had tears running down my cheeks, Ranger held out his hand to me.

"Babe?" he asked.

"Always, Batman," I murmured, and right there in front of his men he twirled me into him but instead of dancing, he simply held me tightly to his chest, resting his chin atop my head. Needing to alleviate the seriousness of the situation, Les grabbed Bobby and began dancing with him.

"I love you, Babe!" he cried out, hugging Bobby, who pushed him away and swatted the back of his head. We all laughed and Les sniffed loudly. "Well, if this is the way you treat me after Egypt, am I glad we didn't have a repeat performance in Rome."

"Jesus, how is it that you still get laid?" Bobby asked shoving Les away from him with an open palm.

"It's these drop dead sexy looks, right Beautiful?" he waggled his eyebrows at me.

"I'm liking the drop dead part," Ranger growled, pulling me closer to him possessively. I laughed and swatted his arm as I heard my locks tumble. In an instant, all the men were silent and nine guns were pulled, aimed at my door. Before I could register what was going on, Ranger spun me around and pushed me behind him, before he and Les stood directly in front of me, poised to fire and blocking me from any intruder's sights.

They all relaxed again when the intruders turned out to be Tank and Lula.

"What is wrong with y'all, done be pulling y'alls guns on Lula?" Lula demanded, shoving her way through the throng of Merry Men to give me a hug. The merriment continued as we swopped more gifts and when we found out Lula had gotten me the same pair of shorts in powder blue, there was an overwhelming vote for us to try them on. we did it good-naturedly, but to everyone's amusement, as soon as we walked into the living room, our public displays were put to end with two Rangeman windbreakers finding its way around our shoulders.

"Don't you like it, Batman?" I murmured into his ear.

"Love it, Babe," he replied, "but that doesn't mean all my men get to as well."

Ranger and I spent the rest of the day together and he even braved lunch with my family with the promise of taking me to meet his family the next day. After lunch, we had an impromptu Christmas party at Rangeman. By the end of the day, I was exhausted, but I had never been happier. We left Haywood a little after 11 and I began to drift off to sleep in the Turbo, my hand clasped firmly in Ranger's.

When I woke up, we were parked in front of an almost Victorian style mansion, and Ranger pressed a fob to open high, iron wrought gates. The house was beautiful, complete with a rose garden out front and a love seat on the patio. I shifted in my seat and Ranger's eyes snapped to me.

"Ranger, where are we?" I asked sleepily.

"I still have to give you your second Christmas gift, Babe, since you gave me yours," he answered. We stopped in front of the patio and he came around the car and opened my door for me.

"I only got you one gift," I told him puzzled.

Pulling me out, he pressed me up against the car and kissed me until I was breathless.

"No, Babe," he murmured. "The second gift was your heart." When he pulled away, I found that he had slipped a jewellery box in my hand. I opened it wordlessly.

Inside was a key fob, I assumed, to this place. the key ring was what caught my attention. Made entirely of black diamonds and amber gems, was the Bat symbol. Interwoven with it, linked to the bat in a way where it can never be removed, made entirely of white diamonds, was the Wonder Woman "W".

It was the most beautiful representation of us I had ever seen.

And all at once, I knew where I was.

"The Batcave is forever," I whispered, looking up at him wonderingly.

"Yeah, Babe," he murmured, holding my gaze in a captivating lock of lust, passion, tenderness and eternal love. "Ready for Someday?"

"Been ready since day one, Batman," I told him truthfully.

"Let's go, Wonder Woman," he tugged gently on my hands.

I walked into my Forever.

**###**

**A/N: And there you have it! A very merry Christmas to all those celebrating! Please read and review! Happy, safe holidays! -JazMitch**


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